FDA To Evaluate Marijuana For Potential Reclassification As Less Dangerous Drug

The Food and Drug Administration is reviewing the medical evidence surrounding the safety and effectiveness of marijuana, a process that could
lead to the agency downgrading the drug's current status as a Schedule I drug, the most dangerous classification.

The march to legalization is growing nearer and nearer. Now the FDA is reevaluating its classification of marijuana from a schedule 1 drug. A schedule
1 drug, for those who are unaware, is considered to be the most dangerous drug with no medical benefit and maximum addiction potential. Here is a link
to the various drug schedules from the DEA website: Drug Schedules

Schedule I drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Schedule I
drugs are the most dangerous drugs of all the drug schedules with potentially severe psychological or physical dependence. Some examples of Schedule I
drugs are:

This is good news. Now this doesn't mean that the drug is suddenly less illegal, but well let's let Huffington Post explain:

The U.S. has five "schedules" for drugs or chemicals that can be used to make drugs. Schedule I is reserved for drugs that the DEA considers to
have the highest potential for abuse and no "current accepted medical use." Marijuana has been classified as Schedule I for decades, along with other
substances like heroin and '___'. Rescheduling marijuana would not make it legal, but a lower schedule could potentially ease restrictions on research
into the drug and make banks less wary of offering financial services to state-legal marijuana businesses. It could also allow those businesses to
make some traditional tax deductions.

There are 8 factors that the FDA has to consider during this process which are listed below:

1) Its actual or relative potential for abuse
2) Scientific evidence of its pharmacological effect, if known
3) The state of current scientific knowledge regarding the drug or other substance
4) Its history and current pattern of abuse
5) The scope, duration, and significance of abuse
6) What, if any, risk there is to the public health
7) Its psychic or physiological dependence liability
8) Whether the substance is an immediate precursor of a substance already controlled under this subchapter

It will be interesting to see what the FDA decides. Of course anyone who pays attention to this ongoing debate will know that the FDA SHOULD lower the
schedule rating, but we all know that what the government SHOULD do and what it ACTUALLY does are usually two different things.

It should be noted that there have been two other times where the FDA was asked to review marijuana's scheduling status. I'm sure you guys can figure
out what they ruled.

This isn't the first time the DEA has asked the FDA to reconsider marijuana, Throckmorton said Friday. In 2001 and 2006, the DEA requested an
analysis of the drug after receiving other public petitions requesting that the agency reschedule it. But both times, federal regulators determined
that marijuana should remain a Schedule I substance. At the time, the FDA said there simply wasn't enough research about marijuana's efficacy in
treating various ailments.

Case in point below. Though as you can see, maybe there will be a new decision this time. Marijuana legalization support is growing faster and faster.
More and more research is coming out that shows that it is not only harmless, but has MANY medical benefits. Every time the FDA rules against
rescheduling marijuana, they are clearly being controlled by vested interests wanting to keep the plant illegal.

Federal authorities have long been accused of only funding marijuana research that focuses on the potential negative effects of the substance. The
DEA has also been accused of not acting quickly enough when petitioned to reschedule marijuana, and for obstructing science around the drug.

Meanwhile, a number of recent studies have added to the growing body of research showing the medical potential of cannabis. Purified forms may attack
some forms of aggressive cancer. Studies have tied marijuana use to blood sugar control and slowing the spread of HIV. One study found that
legalization of the plant for medical purposes may even lead to lower suicide rates.

This is a BIG step towards legalization. If the fed reduces the danger level of marijuana, it opens up so many doors towards federal decriminalization
then medical marijuana then finally full on recreational use. It's time that the federal government recognizes that the majority of the population
WANTS marijuana to be legal and knows that it is a harmless plant (it certainly doesn't deserve to be a schedule 1 drug, which by the way is higher
than coc aine).

Good news. How long will it take them to render their opinion? And even if they stay with the status quo I would think Obama could reschedule the
substance before he leaves office, which I think is in his authority.

If the President makes up more law as he goes....it won't mean squat unless the next President agrees with him 100% and without dissent. (He ought to
be learning this from the Super Court...but Obama is a slow slow learner)

The first thing every President does is put every action of the last one under immediate review for reform or outright removal.

If this is to be done, (and the FDA sure is moving the right direction) the United States allows just *ONE* way to change federal law. Not interpret
it...as the President does like a sport..but CHANGE it, so someone else can't change it right back later on a whim.

It'll take Congress..and it means we'll likely need better men on both sides than we have now. This Congress couldn't work together to make a lunch
order, let alone meaningful changes in long standing law, IMO.

Logical thinking shows that Marijuana is a naturally occurring substance, with medical properties behind it.
Any side of thinking, both scientific atheist and devote christian should see that since it is naturally occurring, whether it be evolution, mother
earth or God that bestowed it upon the earth, it is here for a reason.

And, an Libertarian should be behind this, as people should have the ability to put what ever they want into their body, without the Govt stepping in
to control yet another aspect of life.

Yes, not to mention the biggest tell of all of this is that Cocaine is a schedule 2 drug while marijuana is a schedule 1 drug. In other words, the
government is saying that marijuana is more dangerous and less medically beneficial than coc aine.

a reply to: macman
I am a libertarian, so I am against putting people in jail because they use/abuse substances....tobacco, what have you.

But, when I see this particular argument used,

Any side of thinking, both scientific atheist and devote christian should see that since it is naturally occurring, whether it be evolution, mother
earth or God that bestowed it upon the earth, it is here for a reason.

I want to tell the person using it to try rolling in poison ivy and let me know how good that natural substance is for their skin.
I do not advocate anyone using/abusing any particular substance, but I believe it is wrong to put someone behind bars for what they choose to do to
their own body.

This is a step in the right direction. I'm as conservative as they come and I'm all for decriminalization of marijuana. It's ridiculous to be
locked up for exercising your free will and harming no one.

A tentative step in the right direction, but disappointing if I understand the article. So it's up for review to move it from "as dangerous as
heroin" to " only as dangerous as coke and meth"? I think FDA is more worried about the danger mj might pose to the profitability of Rx pills and
booze...

This is a step in the right direction. I'm as conservative as they come and I'm all for decriminalization of marijuana. It's ridiculous to be
locked up for exercising your free will and harming no one.

Agreed.
Alcohol is the drug that is truly responsible for many deaths, deaths that happen to a person that isn't using/abusing alcohol (drunk driving).

Poison ivy can produce a skin rash if we touch its stem, root, leaves, or fruit. But this plant, a native, has considerable value to wildlife,
which generally are not sensitive to its toxin, called urushiol. Poison ivy’s clusters of round, waxy, whitish fruits develop in summer and persist
into winter, when they are of particular benefit to wildlife because of the scarcity of other foods at that season.

At least 60 species of birds—including all of Maryland’s game birds and many songbirds—are reported to eat the fruits. This explains why poison
ivy is common along fencerows and other places where birds roost—and leave deposits.

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